Chivalry Reborn

Chapter 20:

A Fluttering Heart

Damn. I mentally complained to myself. Chasing down that rabbit wasn’t exactly the biggest option.

I was beginning to analyze what had just occurred to me, and then proceeded to kick my own ass about the actions I did in initial reaction. I’m not sure why I do this, but it’s something I picked up when I started to learn computers.  It’s allowed me to “Psycho-Troubleshoot” since, so I never bothered to stop myself.

I didn’t really need the map anyway. I knew where I was going, with the directions being so simple and all. And now look at yourself, ankle sprained from your dumb move and you having a small yellow pegasus take you to your destination to patch you up. Smart.

My ankle was still quietly complaining about is condition, shooting a small tingle of pain up my leg at the smallest ounce of pressure I placed on it.  I groaned to myself, mentally slapping myself for doing something so stupid to get such a wound.

I looked down to my right side to see Fluttershy still walking right beside, almost against my bad leg, making sure I didn’t fall over. The quiet mare hadn’t said a word ever since we started moving, and I couldn’t really see her expression, due to her mane covering her face. Cursed bangs, not letting me read people properly.

Angel was hopping right behind her, still having that frown on his face. He was probably still suspicious of me, but by now, I don’t really care what he thinks anymore. All I knew is that if tried to hit me one more time, there’s gonna be a problem here.

“Here we are.” Fluttershy finally said something suddenly, making me jump a little, before stopping and looking ahead of us to see where she lived. In front of us, a large cottage stood before us at the top of a small hill. “This is my home.”

It was quite the unusual cottage. It probably made by nothing but one single giant tree and a little paint it seemed. It had multiple windows on all the walls, with small birdhouses around each frame. The cottage itself had a vanilla color to it, with some red for the doors and boards outside, while the birdhouses had roofs that went from blue, orange, lime green or red. The roof had round curve to it, and overlay of leaves and grass served as protection from unwanted sun, rain or snow.

“Let’s get you off that bad leg of yours.”  Fluttershy quietly urged me to come inside, moving ahead a little to get the door. The door was split into two halves for some reason, so she pulled the bottom half part first, and then reared up to her back legs to get the upper half.

I nodded my head lightly, starting to limp toward the entrance to Fluttershy’s home.

As I managed to carry myself through the front door, I ducked down underneath the frame to avoid adding a concussion to my list of injuries. Standing upright again (mostly, I had to bend my knee a little or I’d hit my head on the ceiling), I looked over the main room of the sizable cabin, as I could hear Fluttershy shutting both doors behind me.

The room was quite child and animal friendly. There were multiple birdhouses hanging here and there along the walls of the room. The fireplace the side had a thin slab of stone over it, with a small square gap in the center covered by a small metal grid. A second old-fashioned stove, I mentally noted, Crafty.

I looked down to see Angel bounce by my right leg to hop into a small bed that was right under the window. He curled up comfortably, letting out a small sigh. I had the slightest urge to just kick him off, but I don’t want to cause a scene.  I tore my eyes away from him with small mutter. “It’s not worth it...You’ve gotten more than enough heat for today.”

At the other side of the room, Fluttershy was arranging cushions around the arms of a couch.

“Here, Winston,” Fluttershy waved me over with a timid kindness to her voice, “you can lie here for the night.”

“Fluttershy, you really don’t need to do this much for me.”  I scoffed at how willing she was to tend to me, starting to limp towards the couch.  Then I actually heard her entire sentence in my mind.

“Wait, ‘for the night?’” I stopped, looking at yellow pegasus with a slightly startled look. “No, no. I’ll only be here for a little bit, then leave. I couldn’t possibly stay here.” Not to mention I *really** don’t feel okay staying over a girl’s house.*

“Don’t be silly,” Fluttershy ignored my attempt to reject her offer, patting the arm of the couch lightly. “You wouldn’t be able to make it anywhere with your ankle like that.”

I scraped at my mind for something to counter that argument with. I accidently stepped on my battered ankle and a burst of shocking pain numbed my entire right side. Damnit, I just can’t win, can I?

“I suppose your right.” I admitted reluctantly, cringing at the pain still jolting through me.

I continued to hobble to the couch, slinging off my bag and slowly positioning myself onto it in a lying position. I eased my sore leg on top of the arm, allowing my knee to bend over the edge and have my foot rest at a nearby nightstand. I let my upper back and head rest on the other end, shifting slightly at the awkward, yet comfortable position. It supported all of my back and head as well, with it’s strangely proportioned ends.

I mentally cursed my size, especially now that I’m in this world. Everything was smaller for ponies, and not really meant for humans, for of course I’m going to have trouble sitting in furniture…

Fluttershy walked up out from the kitchen, carrying a couple cubes of ice in a plastic bag, and a small first-aid kit. She paced to where my foot rested, looking at me with attentive eyes. “Comfy?”

“Yeah.” I replied lightly, sighing.

No, was my real answer, however. I never really liked having others look over me, or help me for that matter. I usually just helped myself and maintained myself unless it was my parents, aunt, or uncle. If I got hurt at school, I’d either bare with it until I got home, or just left school early. My parents told me it wasn’t good to avoid help, but I couldn’t help it. I hated communication in general back then, though I’ve gotten better by entering the newspaper club in high school.

“Good,” Fluttershy open the small kit, pulling out a roll of bandages.

“If you, um,  don’t mind, I’ll wrap this pack of ice to your ankle..” She trailed off, almost losing her nerve to finish. I could tell even through her bangs that she was glancing at the ground for a couple moments before looking right back at me to finish. “…It’ll help it heal faster…if you want me to, of course.”

I simply nodded in response, slightly amused by her timid nature.  Fluttershy smiled faintly, before tilting my foot so it was pointing straight up.  Carefully, she placed the pace of ice against the area where the swelling was worse. My leg shot another dose of pain to my nerves, complaining of the new intruding force against it. I ignored it, trying to keep a straight face, so Fluttershy wouldn’t worry about me.

With a swift and proficient accuracy, she slung her hoof round and round, bandage in hand, wrapping my ankle to keep the ice pack pressed against my skin. Her blue eyes were suddenly sharp, staring at my ankle with the intensity only a true caretaker could hold.  In mere seconds, she was finish, snipping the bandage with a small pair of scissors, before tying that and another end that she left at the start into a small tight knot on top.

I blinked; impressed with the work she had down. In a mere fifteen seconds, she had put my ankle in a tight and snug bandage; with ice applying chilling pressure to my ankle. It didn’t hurt at all either. I didn’t feel the smallest tingle from my ankle.

Fluttershy relaxed, turning her head in my direction. Her expression changed to fretting worry upon looking at my stunned expression.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She apologized softly, almost whispering. She looked the bandages around my foot, fidgeting a little. “Didn’t wrap it too tightly, did I?”

I shook my head. “No, you did great!” I smiled reassuringly. “Thanks, I’m sure this’ll help.”

Fluttershy looked at me relieved. “Thank goodness…” She pulled up a nearby chair from a table, sitting next to couch. “So why are you out here anyway?” She tilted her head curiously. “No pony really comes out to Everfree Forest unless to search for something or explore.”

“I just came to visit you.”  I answered casually, putting one of my hands behind my head, using it as a pillow. “You know, to see where I could find you and chat a bit.”

“Oh!”Fluttershy seemed to blush a little, seemingly flattered. It was pretty obvious that she was really easy to get flustered.

  She shifted her eyes away from me to look at the small plate at the table, still smiling. “Well, um….thank you for the kind gesture. Um, we can talk now if you want.” She looked towards the birdhouses on the far side of the room. “All the animals seem to be fine for the day, so I have a lot of free time today.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” I shifted in the odd couch slightly, putting my bag on the ground. I had begun to take notice of all the small beds similar to the one Angel was lying in that was in each edge of the room.  “So, you really take care of the animals here?”

“Oh yes!” She nodded, happy that she was on a topic she loved. “It’s what I love to do. Making sure all the animals have good and healthy lives makes me very happy.” She seemed almost sigh in happiness at the memory of past caretaking. “It’s how I got my cutie mark after all, helping creatures.”

I blinked confused for a moment. “Cutie mark...?” I repeated the term, wondering what it was.

“Oh, um…” Fluttershy popped out of her small daydream, blushing a little. “It’s the markings we get when we each get when we find something that makes us unique from other ponies.”

She turned in her seat so show off her side, pointing at the marking of three small pink butterflies on her flank.

I stared at it, remembering the small lightning rainbow cloud on Rainbow Dash and the three diamonds on Rarity. So that’s what they are, not just a coincidence. I looked back towards Fluttershy. “So you got your cutie mark when you found out you’re true calling was taking care of wildlife.”

“Yes.” She nodded, smiling. “It’s the reason why I decided to move here from Cloudsdale. So any animal can come to me if they get hurt.”

So she’s from Cloudsdale too… My mind was piecing things together as we spoke. And the others said Rainbow lived in Cloudsdale too. Guess that means most Pegasi hail from that place.

“I see.” I looked out the window, looking at the forest just outside. “Where I’m from, some humans tend to the wildlife as well, but we usually just leave it as is.” I look rolled my neck, sitting up a bit. “The natural cycle, and all.”

We do, however, kill more of them than we should to make trivial things, as well as just hunt them down for sport. I said in my mind, but never let my lips pronounce. Fluttershy would break down if I told her that factor of our kind. Looking at things here was making me wish that Earth was more like it. Why couldn’t things be pleasant back home as it was here? The problem of politics and international treachery has bothered me ever since I became old enough to know what right and wrong was. Why were we so…..conceited?

“Really!?” Fluttershy seemed a bit frightened by what I had just said. Did I say some of that out loud…? “You let nature alone then!?”

I turned back to look at Fluttershy, a little surprised at the simple question. “Well, yeah.” I began, moving my bad leg a little to keep it awake. “We let animals do what they want as long as most of them left us alone, and let the sun and move rise and fall when they want. We do keep some animals as pets though.”

“That’s terrifying!” Fluttershy squeaked, covering her mouth with her hooves. “No pony to rise the sun and move, and the animals behave on their own!?” She shook her head lightly. “That sounds like the dark area of the forest!”

I raised an eyebrow, unable to hide how much I thought that was just silly. Ponies found natural forests scary..? That’s just dumb. But then again, this is a different world altogether. The way they think and life is very different, so I couldn’t judge.

I sighed, pulling my glasses off, rubbing the bridge of my nose again. I was running out of topics.  I never was the type of person for small talk. Without thinking, I flicked my bag open, sliding my finger around for the second scroll to read. I always worked, read, walked, or practiced when I was bored. I never really liked to keep my hands and feet idle.

“U-um…” Fluttershy stammered, almost in a whisper.

“Yeah?” I looked up curiously, pulling the scroll from the bag. “What’s up?”

“Yo-your, um…!” She continued to try uttering her sentence, before closing her eyes away from mine, squeaking a little. “N-nothing..”

“Alright then…” I muttered, blinking confused, before returning my focus to scroll, flicking the seal open. “Anything you want to know about Earth?” I paused, realizing that what I was doing was pretty much rude as hell. “And sorry for multitasking on you. I kind of have to study these.”

“Oh no, it’s no trouble at all.” Fluttershy smiled lightly, shaking her head. “And, um…” her smile widened a bit more, gathering the courage to look me in the face again. “What kinds of animals live on your world? I can only guess at all types of wildlife you have.”

“Our wildlife, huh?” I held the scroll in my hands, thinking. Well it is true we have a bunch of animals, but from what I’ve seen a good amount are here as well. “Well, what habitat do you want to hear?”

Fluttershy tilted her head in innocent ignorance at the question. Guess the term isn’t one to be slung around a lot, seeing that nature is basically tended to...

“A habitat is an area in which certain types of animals life within.” I explained, toying with a corner of the rolled message between my fingers. “Like the woodlands like this forest, the rainforest, the freezing tundra, or a hot savanna.”

Fluttershy nodded eagerly as I spoke. She thought for a moment, considering her choices. “Um….the woodlands.” she chose the area that she knew best. “I’m really interested in what animals you have there that we don’t.”

I piled multiple facts from my mind into a pile, thinking of what animals to list. I shift my eyes back to the scroll starting to open it. “Well, there are a few animals that I find interesting myself there.” I stated, holding the scroll open. I began to read it quickly before starting to give my lecture.

**S.T.A.M.P.* – Staff of Total Absorbance of Molecular Power*

The pieces that you can find in the backpack form a small 3 ft stick. This stick is indeed the staff itself, despite it’s appearance. Be aware that this is a prototype model, and is sent directly to you for you to use alone, Shadow Flare.

The STAMP staff is the device created from the schematics left behind by Julius Ceasar, in his efforts to aid you in your destined task. It is capable of absorbing and transferring multiple categories of energy of all sorts through it. This includes both energies from both Equestria and Earth, if our calculations are correct.

The rod will respond to the first holder of the staff. It can expand and shrink in size when willed to by the owner. We are quite confident that it could be used to channel spells from either the host or other entities if willed to, among other things. Experimentation and practice is recommended.

-SWAP Interdimensional Technology Branch

I stared at the message, a blank look on my face once more. These people are sending me prototypes too? Do I look like a secret agent!? I sighed lightly, picking up my bag.

“Well then,” I started, pulling out the first scroll and plundering through the bag to gather all the metal pieces, “I suppose I can start with a favorite of mine.” I smiled at the confused yellow caretaker brightly. “How about I talk about foxes? You have those here?”

“Oh,” She blinked, slightly surprised that I started talking to her again, “um, no, not here in this forest. But I have heard about them once.”

“Well then,” I opened the first scroll, opening it and examining the diagram closely, “you see, back where I’m from I saw those once or twice when I went hiking with my father….”

I started to match the metal components for the rod with one another, as I started to spout facts about the red fox, one of my favorite animals. (Thank you tech support training.)

“-and that’s all I can think of for the animals in forests like this one.” I stated, clicking the finally piece of the rod to the now completed product.

“I see…” Fluttershy mumbled drowsily. She yawned lightly, her voice squeaking some more. Seriously, how cute can she act?

I glanced to the side at her. She was still sitting up, but her head was bobbing lightly, as her eyes kept drifting shut before she jerked her head back up to stay awake. I scoffed, smiling faintly. She could have just stopped me to keep going until later.

We’ve spent the remainder of the day just chatting with one another. I told her animals of all sorts while I fiddled with the parts of rod. I went from foxes, to raccoons, to all kinds of other animals such as the Red-Tailed Hawk and the Wild Turkey. She then compared my descriptions with her own for the ones she had heard about and seen herself.

Most of the animals were pretty much the same except there weren’t nearly as many carnivores in Equestria. For instance, unlike the ones found on Earth, the Grizzly Bear of Equestria didn’t eat fish at all; simply berries. It was still, however, very ferocious due to it being very territorial.

I glanced at my watch to check the time.  10:40 P.M. Man, we killed the day just chatting away… I look back towards Fluttershy. She had stopped fighting back slumber as was breathing slowly, about to let sleep take hold. I quickly poked her side to wake her back up.

She jumped in her seat, letting out a startled yipe that couldn’t be better described as utterly adorable.

“Hey,” I snapped her attention towards me, holding back my laughter, “you should go to sleep in your bed if you want to sleep. Not very good to sleep sitting upright, you know.”

“Oh…” Fluttershy uttered, a tint of red gracing her cheeks lightly.  “I guess you’re right…” She mumbled, getting down from her seat, slowly walking toward the stair case.

She stopped at the landing, putting a hoof to a light switch. “Good night, Winston.” She said lazily, rubbing her eye with her other hoof.

“Good night, Fluttershy.” I laid back against the couch, looking at the rod before I decided to sleep myself. She flicked the switch, turning off all the lights in the living room. She toddled up the stairs, giving one last silent yawn, before disappearing from view.

I sighed, turning the rod around in my hands, thinking. Hopefully, my leg will heal before I leave in the morning. Starting tomorrow I have a full schedule of things to do. I yawned, noticing how tired I was now. Time to hit the hay….

I looked at the rod again, huffing lightly. It was indeed about a yard in length, and it had a chrome color to it. It was made out of a brushed metal of some sort, and besides the occasional bump, very smooth.  So this is the great prototype STAMP, huh… I pressed one end against a small hole I had in my belt that I used to carry my knives in.

I personally modified all of my belts that I wore for hikes with three small hoops, so I could carry three small weapons. My father taught me how to do it when the neighborhood got a little more dangerous than it normally was with an increased number of murders and kidnappings; so my dad taught me how to defend myself. Seeing that there was no problem to walk around town with these on, why not wear them all the time?

The rod slipped into the hold snuggly, not moving without me having to push with effort to make it move. It was too big to wear comfortable, however. Now if only this thing could fit within my belt… I sighed, closing my eyes. Guessing I’ll have to take it apa-

Shhllliiiiink

Before I could even finish my thought, the rod suddenly slid into itself on its own. I jumped a little in surprise, gripping the metal device tightly and holding it in front of me.

I stared at it, stunned. It wasn’t a yard long anymore at all. It was now about the length of a small phone. I looked where my hand was. Did I press a button or something? There wasn’t a thing there besides a smooth metal surface. I started to think about it, but my head was now filled in static. Oh screw it, I need some sleep. I quickly gave up on matter. I can just figure it out tomorrow.

I slipped the small rod into the hole carelessly. It slipped in with no trouble and wobbled lightly from its position. I turned to my side, letting my eyes slowly slide down for rest.

“Get up.” I could hear a familiar voice call me as soon as I fell asleep.

“…Shadow…?” I sat up lazily, scratching my head.

I glanced around myself to see where we were this time. We were in a large field filled with green grass. The sky was a clear, without a single cloud in the sky. Up ahead, there was a small forest filled with pear trees along with a bucket of peaches with a really tall basketball hoop.

“What is it tonight..?”

“Practice.” He declared with a light grin. “We’re gonna practice everything you’ve tried today.”

I looked at him with a deadpan expression, praying he was joking.

“No, I’m not kidding.” He added, instantly killing my hopes of actual rest.

“Damnit….fine…” I groaned, getting to my feet slowly. "But why?"

"Because soon enough, Things are going to start that we'll need to stop it with." He suddenly became dead serious, his face having a blank expression. "We need to prepare whenever we can. You know this just like I do."

"...." I stared at his sharp red eyes for awhile. He looked exactly like he did back the dream when I first met him. "...Fine, but only because I don't want others to suffer."

"That's what I like to hear!" He barked with confidence, his grin reappearing on his face. I moaned, really not wanting to practice when I was asleep.

“Don’t worry,” He added, walking towards the trees chuckling. “You won’t feel tired here.”

“Says you…” I mumbled myself, as I started to follow behind him.

“Oh, don’t be a baby.” He snickered looking back at me. “Just change so we can get started.”

I smacked my lips, closing my eyes to focus. I let the image of a horse appear in my mind.

Release

A spark went off in my mind, and I could feel it suddenly become harder to stand upright. I opened my eyes, landing on all fours. I glanced down, greeted by the sight of hooves.

“There.” I huffed, looking at Shadow,. “Happy?”

He shook his head, laughing. “You need to do better than that,” he taunted, jabbing his hoof at me. “You don't have the full package.”

I blinked, confused, before I looked to my sides. It was just my side. “I don’t see what’s-”

Wait, no wings.

I turned back to him, dumbfounded. “Why didn’t they come out?”

“Because you didn’t focus enough.” He explained, turning around. “Didn’t you listen to the librarian? The spell needs a fair amount of focus to get it to work right.” He kept his grin, rearing up to make shrugging expression. “You didn’t focus enough, so you only got the normal pony.”

I rolled my eyes at his smartass comments. “I get it, already.” I groaned, closing my eyes to focus.

Okay….first the horse.

The silhouette of a stallion appeared in my mind.

Then the wings and horn…

Slowly, the wings expanded in my mind, as a horn slowly shined onto the horse.

Release

A new brighter flash appeared in my mind, as I quickly opened my eyes.  Did it work..?

I crouched down, stretching out all of my muscles. I could feel my sides flick out, and stick up into air, opening as far as they could. Good I got my wings… I shifted my gaze to my forehead, where I saw a small horn just at the edge of my sight. And there’s the horn.

“There,” I stated, standing back upright, “now what.”

“Now,” Shadow Flare announced, a big smirk on his face, “now we train.” He turned, running off towards the field. He expertly unfurled his wings, flapping them only once to lift off into the skies.

He flew up into the sky a few meters, then stopped turning around, hovering there. “Come on!”

I shook my head, galloping in his direction. This is my new lifestyle, I suppose…. I mentally whined to myself, as I flapped my wings to get myself up to his level, beginning a “night’s” worth of practicing.